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STRAWWEIGHT WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP AND CO-MAIN EVENT:
MELISSA “SUPER MELY” MARTINEZ VS. DESIREE “DIRTY DEZ” YANEZ
PLUS 118-POUND WOMEN’S CATCHWEIGHT BOUT:
FORMER LUCHA UNDERGROUND CHAMPION “SEXY” DULCE GARCIA
RETURNS TO ACTION AGAINST MARISOL RUELAS
PREVIOUSLY ANNOUNCED MAIN EVENT:
TITO ORTIZ VS. ALBERTO “EL PATRÓN” RODRIGUEZ
TICKETS ON SALE NOW
NEW YORK – October 29, 2019 – Combate Americas, the world’s premier Hispanic Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) sports and media franchise, today announced its inaugural women’s world championship bout and co-main event for the highly-anticipated ‘Tito vs. Alberto - What Side Are You On?,’ live pay-per-view television extravaganza from Payne Arena in McAllen, Texas on Saturday, Dec. 7.
Facing off in the Combate Americas world strawweight (115 pounds) championship showdown will be undefeated knockout artist Melissa “Super Mely” Martinez (6-0) and fellow world-ranked, ferocious star Desiree “Dirty Dez” Yanez (5-1).
Priced from $30, tickets for the Combate Americas ‘Tito vs. Alberto - What Side Are You On?’ live television event hosted by TS-1 Promotions, are on sale at Ticketmaster.com.
“This is going to be an epic showdown – ‘Super Mely’ vs. ‘Dirty Dez,’ Mexico vs. Texas - in the first Combate Americas women’s world title fight in history, right smack on the U.S.-Mexico border in McAllen,” said Combate Americas CEO Campbell McLaren.
The event will be headlined by the previously announced and highly-anticipated, 210-pound catchweight showdown between UFC Hall of Famer Tito Ortiz (20-12-1) of Huntington Beach, Calif. and multiple-time WWE Heavyweight Champion and former PRIDE and DEEP MMA star Alberto “El Patrón” Rodriguez (9-5) (formerly “Alberto Del Rio” of the WWE) of San Antonio, Texas by way of San Luis Potosi, SLP, Mexico.
At stake in the matchup between Ortiz and “El Patrón” is the previously announced, winner-take-all title belt challenge that will see the victor walk away with the loser’s coveted, championship belt.
At 21 years of age, Martinez of Mexico City, Mex. will aim to become the youngest Hispanic world champion in MMA history.
To date, the Combate Americas discovery turned human highlight reel and number one ranked pound-for-pound female fighter in Mexico has been unstoppable with her Muay Thai-based arsenal, notching five of her six professional career victories by way of (T)KO.
Similarly, the 29-year-old Yanez of Waco, Texas proved to be the real deal when she made her Combate Americas promotional debut in Hidalgo on June 21, pulverizing the previously unbeaten Paulina Vargas of Mexico into technical submission (injury) in the third round (1:54) of their matchup.
The convincing defeat of Vargas extended Yanez’s overall streak to four consecutive wins.
Also announced today for the fight card was a featured women’s 118-pound catchweight contest between former Lucha Underground world champion and undefeated professional boxer “Sexy” Dulce Garcia (1-0) (formerly known as “Sexy Star” on Lucha Underground) and fellow MMA upstart Marisol Ruelas (1-2).
Above: “Sexy” Dulce Garcia will compete in a featured, live televised Combate Americas fight against fellow MMA upstart Marisol Ruelas. Undefeated as a professional boxer and a former Lucha Libre world champion, Garcia became a three-sport athlete earlier this year when she made her MMA debut under the promotion of Combate Americas.
The 37-year-old Garcia of Monterrey, N.L., Mexico was the first women’s world champion in the Lucha Underground television series, and holds an unblemished, 5-0 record in professional boxing.
Garcia officially became a three-sport athlete when she made her MMA debut under the promotion of Combate Americas on April 12, dominating Mariana Ruiz Avila to earn a unanimous decision.
Ruelas is a 22-year-old prospect fighting out of Chicago, Ill. and looking to rebound from a second round (1:47) TKO (knee strike) defeat at the hands of undefeated Criszaida Adames on September 1.
Prior to the loss, Ruelas had earned an impressive, second round (2:59) submission (rear-naked choke) win over Corrie Ward in what marked Ruelas’ Combate Americas debut on March 29.
Additional bouts for the Combate Americas ‘Tito vs. Alberto - What Side Are You On?’ live television extravaganza at Payne Arena will be announced soon.
COMBATE AMERICAS ‘TITO VS. ALBERTO - WHAT SIDE ARE YOU ON?’
UPDATED FIGHT CARD
CATCHWEIGHT (210 LBS.) MAIN EVENT:
Tito Ortiz (20-12-1) vs. Alberto “El Patrón” Rodriguez (9-5)
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP STRAWWEIGHT CO-MAIN EVENT:
Melissa Martinez (6-0) vs. Desiree Yanez (5-1)
FEATURED CATCHWEIGHT (118 LBS.) BOUT:
Dulce Garcia (1-0) vs. Marisol Ruelas (1-2)
ABOUT COMBATE AMERICAS
Combate Americas is the premier Hispanic Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) sports franchise, rapidly becoming the number two sport after soccer, for Spanish speaking fans worldwide. The Combate Americas franchise includes live event and original shoulder programming on some of the biggest television, OTT and digital platforms in Spanish and English, including Univision and Univision Deportes Network (UDN), DAZN, ESPN, GOL, Pluto TV and Facebook Watch worldwide. The company also owns and operates a multi-platform media studio, La Jaula Studios. This event is not sponsored or affiliated with WWE or UFC.
Combate Americas CEO Campbell McLaren, also the co-founder/co-creator of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), has been described by New York Magazine as "the marketing genius behind the UFC,” while Yahoo Sports has said he "knows more about the sport than just about anyone in it today." With an unprecedented and cutting edge product and a blue-chip ownership and management team, Combate Americas is poised to break new ground and bring about a new era in world championship level MMA competition.
